With a year spent travailing the globe leading alterna-rock heroes, Pavement, through their reunion parade, it’s back to the day job for Stephen Malkmus and his Jicks. Their latest album, Mirror Traffic, is out August 22 through Domino Records. Produced by Beck ‘Beck’ Hansen, who recently helmed Thurston Moore’s latest effort, this is Stephen Malkmus’ [...]
In celebration of the winding up of Pavement’s reunion tour (those two final dates in South America are going to be killer), we planned on showing the results of the “Play guitar with Pavement” competition from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. But those of you who live outside North America are screwed, and every other Youtube clip has been taken down due to copyright. Which, if you ask me, blows. So instead, you’re getting Pavement on the Colbert Show from last week not “shaking their nunchucks like they just don’t care” along to “Gold Soundz” and not belting out “Unfair“ as it should‘ve been. Another reason to post some prime Pavement action is that Webcuts is joining the indie rock jetset, flying out to Los Angeles this week to catch Pavement at the Hollywood Bowl and join in on the Matador at 21 celebrations in Las Vegas. That’s right, Vegas baby!
As regular as clockwork, and now for the third year running, Webcuts returned to Slottsskogen in Gothenburg, Sweden for the annual Way Out West Festival. With so much eclectic talent spread across the three days it was impossible to walk away empty-handed. No matter what your taste in music were, all bases were covered. This year, Electro-wizards Chemical Brothers, alterna-rock heroes Pavement, living legends Iggy Pop & The Stooges, hometown boy Håkan Hellström, rap overlords the Wu-Tang Clan, and the mesmerizing M.I.A. were just a few of the acts to thrilled the sell-out audience, and to keep the photographers on their toes…
For our third year in a row, Webcuts will be out in force at the 2010 Way Out West festival (August 12-14) in Gothenburg, Sweden, casting a watchful eye on proceedings and generally just having a damn good time. After the impressive line-up of last year, which had My Bloody Valentine, Glasvegas, Antony & The Johnsons, Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend all vying for our attention, Way Out West 2010 has once more secured an impressive array of acts from all corners of the globe.
Ah, Barcelona, your beaches are beautiful, your women are smoking jewels (literally), and this festival by the beach (really an explosion of concrete by the seaside) is clearly the diamond in the rough for the travelling roadshow of bands that litter the skies with one thing in mind – a paid holiday. With a selection of acts that suited this weary hack like a good pair of tight jeans and a band tee, Primavera was a stage to stage delight. The current crop of new band like The Drums, Surfer Blood and Dum Dum Girls rose up to meet the challenge of the ’90s alternative old guard of Pixies, Pavement and Superchunk.
The smell of reunion is in the air as Pavement’s back catalogue is harvested for the new-comers in this career-spanning collection.
Stephen Malkmus has been ‘jicking’ for as long now as he was leading the charge in Pavement, releasing as many albums, yet never reaching the same heights. His solo career seemed to be in constant war of expectation over delivery. It’s not Pavement. It’s not a bunch of twenty-year-olds fighting their generation. But the louche stage prescence, that hazy cynical drawl, the greying hair framing the eyes in a semi-slacker curl, little has changed over the years.
Having had the release of his first solo album The Real Feel eclipsed by that of the forthcoming Pavement reunion and scramble to get tickets, Spiral Stairs would probably be feeling a little robbed, but then again come next year, as the reunion-cash floods in, whatsitgonnamatter? “Stolen Pills” is a kinda The Fall meets Flying Nun records hybird, jangling guitars and distorted vocals. It’s a sweet return to the ragged lo-fi rock of Pavement, and is a firm two fingers in the face of the prog-noodling of his ex-counterpart Stephen Malkmus. Stolen Pills, I love’em. The Real Feel is out on Domino Records this week.
As the headline implicitly states, indie slackers Pavement are set to follow in the footsteps of Pixies, My Bloody Valentine etc to reform for shows next year. As thousands of fans worldwide rejoice, a small minority shrug their shoulders and sneer “you should’ve been there in ’92, man”.
After the demise of Pavement and the closure of the Preston School of Industry, Scott Kannberg AKA Spiral Stairs returns after a 5 year absence to deliver his first proper solo album The Real Feel on October 19.
The Too Pure Singles Club returns in 2012 with a bang (or is that a rattle) with the sound of Icelandic mantra magicians Dead Skeletons. For the uninitiated, Dead Skeletons came into existence in 2008 when band member Jon Saamunder needed music for an art installation in the Reykjavik Art Museum. Enlisting the help of friends Henrik Bjornsson and Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt the trio penned the songs which would eventually become the Dead Magick album, a 72 minute, 12 song journey through space and time, life and death. “Om Mani Peme Hung” is the sound of Neu! on a meditation retreat engaging in a spiritual hypno-chant. Now repeat after me… Om Mani Peme Hung, Om Mani Peme Hung, Om Mani Peme Hung… (subscribe to the Too Pure Singles Club here).
